There was a rare break in the rain and wind for a sunny game to finish the minor rounds of the 2022 Lower South East Hockey Association Division 1 women’s competition as Tigers took on West at Blue Lake Sports Park.
West came out firing from the start with good passes and strong defence led by Dana Jones.
A good passage of play got last year’s premiers their first goal as Angela Broad and Gemma Ballintyne combined to get past the defenders.
The nice play was completed by Ballintyne who finished it with a shot to the back of the goals.
In the second quarter Ballintyne was again dominant, starting the quarter off with a counterattack which rebounded off a defender and found Broad in the right spot in the circle to give West a second goal.
West controlled the ball well and put Tigers under a lot of pressure with Tigers’ strong defence holding for the while.
This meant a third quarter arm wrestle broke out with both teams having chances but not executing.
The final quarter saw both sides start to spread with players getting tired with lots of back and forth play occurring without much circle penetration.
A good counterattack by West secured another goal with Ashlea Dunn slotting it in the corner to end the game with a comfortable 4-0 win.
The strong result was the perfect way for West to secure the minor premiership ahead of Redbacks.
Redbacks finished off the season strongly with another 4-0 win over Strikers.
Redbacks shared the scoring with a goal each to Eliza Beck, Jorja Beck, Steph Wighton and Lauren Manser.
They were able to make a difference despite the best efforts of Kate Fabian, Tayla England and Imogen Horbury, who were leading the Strikers into battle.
Finals will ignite this weekend and the big battle is between West and Redbacks.
This game will be a treat to watch, with both sides hoping to move straight through to the grand final.
West has the wood on Redbacks in recent times however it could go either way and the result will depend on how well Redbacks can shut down West star trio Broad, Jones and Sarah Mutch.
In the elimination final Tigers would go in as favourites against Strikers, but with previous draws this season Tigers will not be taking anything for granted.
Division 1 men
The Strikers and West final round Division 1 men’s battle was a tight tussle until the end.
After a hard fought four quarters Strikers eventually pulled off the win for the last round of the season.
Strikers opened with a speedy attack and launched a shot on goal.
But the strike was saved by the West keeper, but Caleb Lindsay just caught the deflection and found the back of the box with a sneaky back stick to put Strikers on the board.
West returned serve and for several minutes of the first quarter the game was continually turned over.
Angus Langsmith and Nathan Taylor enjoyed a good match up around the pitch, while Connor Millhouse combined well with his brother Jordan in the forward line.
Connor Millhouse sent a high ball two-thirds the length of the field to Jordan Millhouse just outside the circle and the latter managed to dribble it past his opponent and have a shot on goal.
However, the strike was well saved by the courageous effort of West’s David Vine.
Strikers strengthened its lead in the second term with two more great goals by Jordan Millhouse.
West also made its mark with a loose ball, scramble and nice finish by Angus Aitken.
However, they still had some work to do with the scoreboard reading 3-1 Strikers’ way at half time.
West worked hard for a second scoring chance and created many opportunities but some excellent defence by Callum Murray, Connor Butler and Jordan Fabian fought them off.
The reigning premiers opened the fourth quarter attacking hard and Strikers seemed to drop slightly.
West secured a short corner which was mis trapped but the subsequent hustle and crumbs went the attackers way with a second clean goal by Aitken.
This was followed by a second short corner and clean conversion by Vine and suddenly the scoreboard was level.
Some excellent scrambling in the Strikers circle saw Cam Taylor and Jordan Millhouse nudging Strikers back into the lead at a big time against the run of play.
Strikers had to hold West off for the final three minutes which they achieved thanks to composed play by Callum Murray, Cam Taylor and Connor Butler.
Tigers took on Redbacks and it was a dominant performance by the minor premiers in every way.
Redbacks defence worked overtime under pressure from Tigers’ circle entries with a diving Greg Doll slotting the first goal from a pass into the circle.
Some slick ball movement from Aaron Mengler earned him a short corner from which he scored himself with an impressive drag flick.
Tigers continued to find the scoreboard and led 4-0 at half time.
This advantage turned into 6-0 at three quarter time, but there was no resting for a team looking to build into the finals.
A hat-trick by Mengler in the final quarter saw the score blow out to 12-0 in a performance that Tigers will hope to give them an extra boost heading into the finals.
Tigers will now take on Strikers for a straight passage to the grand final, with West and Redbacks fighting it out in the elimination final this weekend.
